


Merry Christmas, Darling

by sunflowersapphic



Category: Spring Awakening - Sheik/Sater
Genre: M/M, deaf Ernst, it's gay and im gay, sappy Christmas fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-21
Updated: 2015-12-21
Packaged: 2018-05-08 06:56:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5487878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunflowersapphic/pseuds/sunflowersapphic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All either of them want for the holidays is time together, really.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Merry Christmas, Darling

**Author's Note:**

  * For [agenderleadingplayer](https://archiveofourown.org/users/agenderleadingplayer/gifts).



> This was supposed to be happy to make up for something sad Madi wrote but I feel like I got a little off track?? Enjoy??

Ernst bites his lip in concentration, standing on his toes to reach the top of the tree. A glance at the clock tells him that Hanschen is arriving home in about twenty minutes, giving Ernst enough time to finish the tree, frost the cookies, and perhaps even change into something a bit more festive. After finally placing the star on the tree he steps back, admiring his handiwork. Decorating for the holidays was normally something the couple did together, but a heavy workload this year left Hanschen with very little time for things like holiday prep. It wasn’t the same when it was a one-man job, but you do what you have to do, right?

Ernst is on his way to the kitchen when the door to the apartment slams open. Enter Hanschen, dusted with snow and looking even grumpier than usual. Ernst can feel the action, jumping in surprise.

“Hanschen!” Ernst rushes over and immediately begins to fuss over his fiancé. Hanschen brushes him off, trudging into the living room to flop heavily onto the couch. He begins pulling off his snow-tinged outwear, more aggressive in his movements than is necessary for something he does every day. Once finished he sighs heavily and leans back into the comfort of the couch. Everything about his demeanor says that he wants to be left alone, but Ernst knows better than that. When you’re as good at reading body language as Ernst is you start to notice when someone actually wants to be left alone versus when they’re just being dramatic.

And God knows Hanschen is good at “dramatic”.

Carefully and slowly, Ernst makes his way over to the couch, taking his place beside Hanschen. He sits there for a moment, waiting. After about a minute of nothing Hanschen takes his partner’s hand and leans his head on Ernst’s shoulder. _There we go_ Ernst thinks. He waits another minute or two before deciding to prod.

Ernst nudges Hanschen off his shoulder so he can properly see his hands. “Bad day at work?”

Hanschen makes a vague gesture that’s not quite a real sign by way of a reply. Ernst chuckles and squeezes his hand quickly before releasing it again. “I’m sorry. Would helping me frost the cookies help?”

Hanschen thinks on this for a moment. “Yes. Perhaps.”

Grinning, Ernst leaps up from the couch and tugs Hanschen along with him. “Fantastic! You know, I was saving that job until you got home. I know how much you always look forward to it.” Okay, so that was a lie, but Hanschen needed it right now so Ernst figured he could justify it. Once into the kitchen Ernst begins pulling things from here and there, setting everything up. He glances behind him at one point and sees Hanschen leaning against the counter, back to looking surly as ever. Ernst leans in and kisses Hanschen’s forehead as he places the bowl of frosting on the counter. “Are you ready to stop pouting and start helping?”

The shorter man leans up and gives Ernst a quick peck on the cheek, reluctantly smiling. “I suppose so.”

“Good, because we have several dozen and they all need to be done tonight!” The two were famous among their friends for the massive amounts of holiday treats they made and distributed to everyone in their little social circle. Ernst hands Hanschen a frosting knife and playfully shoves him in the direction of the cookies.

As they set to work Ernst attempts to make small talk, getting only short and snippy responses from his fiancé. He lets it slide for about half an hour before the silence becomes too deafening for him to stand—and that’s coming from a man who lives his life in silence.

He taps Hanschen on the shoulder to get his attention, frowning. “You’re normally so talkative. Is everything okay?”

Hanschen quickly turns back to the cookie he was frosting, focusing an unnecessary amount of attention on making sure the sugary green glaze is spread evenly across the cookie. Ernst taps him again, this time with more force and urgency, and gives him a look that says he’d better answer now before Ernst confiscates the cookie.

The blond drops the cookie, sighs, and gives one of his famous eye rolls. “I’m fine. Everything is fine. I’m just focused. Can we get back to work?” With that he turns back to the counter, picking back up where he left off.

Oh, but Ernst won’t have that. Eye-rolling is not something he will stand for, no sir. He takes Hanschen’s shoulder and turns him back so they are face to face, snatching the cookie and the frosting knife away and plopping them back on the counter. “No, we’re going to talk this out. You never ignore me like this. Something is wrong.”

He searches Hanschen’s face for a moment before sighing heavily. As usual, the icy blond is giving nothing away by way of facial expression. Ernst has spent more time than is probably necessary studying this man’s emotions and yet there are some things Hanschen still hides all too well. Which is why Ernst is surprised when he gets a response as soon as he does.

“I don’t like being away from you for so long, and every day. Christmas is this Friday and I feel like I’m stuck in November. I mean—,” Hanschen runs his hands down his face. The façade is slowly crumbling, and Ernst is worried by what he swears are tears welling in Hanschen’s eyes. The thought crosses his mind that maybe this has been a long time coming, and he somehow never noticed. “—you’ve even decorated the tree by yourself this year. How fucked up is that.” His hands are shaking, and his signs are blurring together. Ernst takes Hanschen’s hands in his own to silence him. He gives Hanschen a long, hard look before enveloping him in a tight hug. Hanschen buries his face in the crook of Ernst’s neck and resigns to let the tears come freely, albeit still quietly. Ernst makes a move to pull away but Hanschen refuses to let the contact break. He knows his fiancé well enough at this point to know that this means he’s embarrassed that he let this happen. Ernst could tell Hanschen every day for the rest of their lives that breakdowns are okay and he would still prefer to keep everything pushed down and neatly packed away in the corner of his mind.

After Hanschen seems to have finished Ernst pulls away just enough for them to properly communicate. He takes time to wipe the tears from Hanschen’s face before he speaks. “I know that you’re only doing it because you have to. You’re doing it for us, and I appreciate that. You know that. Sometimes we have to make sacrifices.”

Hanschen shakes his head. “What am I working for if I don’t even have time to spend with my fiancé?”

“For the time we _do_ have together,” Hanschen still looks confused and about to cry, but Ernst is smiling. He leans down and places kisses anywhere and everywhere that is in his immediate reach. Forehead, cheeks, jawline, earlobe. Hanschen is grinning by the time Ernst has finished, and somehow they end up pressed closer than when they started.

The kisses slowly trail off and they are left staring at one another, both red cheeked and smiling. In a surge of affection, Hanschen leans upward to catch Ernst in a deep kiss. As it drags on it feels like the barrier that has been put up between them over the past few weeks is melting away, and everything at once seems to fall back in place where it is meant to be. Ernst is the one to break away, unwinding his hands so he can speak.

“We still have cookies to finish, you know.”

Hanschen laughs, the first genuine laugh he’s had in quite a while. He leans over and dips his finger in the bowl of frosting, smearing it across Ernst’s nose. “Close enough, right?”


End file.
